The High Point University women's basketball team fell to intra-Triad rival UNC Greensboro tonight, 63-53.  HPU falls to 5-4 on the season while UNCG improves to 6-3.

Leading the Panthers in scoring was senior Candyce Sellars with 18 points. Amber Manuel added 9 while Leslie Cook had 8.

The Spartans placed three players in double figures tonight with Kaleah Latham leading the way with 16. Kristen Boone and Jasmine Byrd each added 11 points.

The Spartans came out of the gate strong to take an early 5-0 lead before the Panthers got on the board at the 18:23 mark with a layup from Katie Ralls. UNCG dominated the first 10 minutes of the opening period to take their largest lead of the half (22-8) at 8:36 on a jumper from Brittany Frazier. High Point would rally in the final minutes of the contest to go on a 14-3 run beginning at 4:48 with a jumper from Sellars. During the span Sellars and Cook combined for 12 of the Panthers' points. Cook hit a lay-up with 27 seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at 28-28, but the Spartans would get control of the ball and had just enough time for Byrd to nail a three pointer to give the Spartans the 31-28 advantage going into the break.

Coming out of the Spartans jumped out early, taking a 10 point lead (40-30) at 14:56 off of a free throw by Frazier. High Point pulled back within six at 13:33 with back-to-back baskets from Ralls and Sellars. The Spartans held strong and took their largest lead of the second period, going up by 12 with 6:51 remaining. HPU would rally to go on 11-3 run over the next five minutes and pull within four (55-51) off a pair of free throws from Erica Brockmyer with 55 seconds remaining. The Spartans hit four free throws to outscore the Panthers in the final seconds for the victory.

"I thought it was a great effort tonight by our team," said High Point head coach Tooey Loy. "We played a great game and beat them in several categories on the stat sheet. It's always a tough loss when you play so hard and still come up short."

High Point won the battle on the boards tonight, outrebounding the Spartans, 49-40. Manuel, Sellars and Caitlin Thys each had six boards for the Panthers. HPU forced 21 Spartan turnovers on the defensive side.

The Panthers will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 20 when the travel to Columbia, S.C. for a 4:00 p.m. tip with University of South Carolina.